Press Report 29th October 2019
ESSEX CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE
Horseheath, Cambridge
Saturday 26 October
Last weekends Essex League cross country match doubled up as a qualifying opportunity for the Junior runners to represent Essex in the Southern inter counties on the 7th of December.
Ilford AC were very well represented across the age groups
U17 boys as usual performed outstandingly with Aaron Samuels winning by a sizable margin in 21:16 earning him top spot on the Essex team.
Jak Wright was the only other qualifying athlete on the day securing 5th in 22:25 with Bradley Deacon only 3 positions away from the required top 8 coming home in 11th position in 23:07 over the 6k distance
U15 boys regular scorer Ryan Holeyman was our first athlete home for 18th place in a competitive field in 15:23. Accompanying him was Jacob Emeagi in 19:13 for 41st place and Vitor Martins-Duraes in 19:18 for 42nd place for the 4k
Joseph Grange, running for the U13 boys in the 3k distance had his hopes of an Essex representative vest slip as he came home for 16th place in 11:58 while Lucas Emeagi ran an impressive 12:37 in his first ever XC race for 29th place.
Jordan Hinds was the club’s only representative in the U20 girls age group and ran a strong race in a competitive field for 20th place in 22.44 over 5k
Seniors
Ilford AC showed improved form from the first match with both senior teams finishing in higher positions in match 2.
The men were in good form with Ahmed Abdulle leading the team win a splendid victory. He took command of the race early on and went on to win by over 30 seconds in 26 mins 23 secs for the 8km course. He was supported by Tom Gardner in 21st with 29mins 10 secs with Mungo Prior, who is continuing to run well in his first year in the senior race, 1 place and 1 second behind. Next home was Paul Grange with 29mins 40 secs for 30th with the man in form Gary Coombes in 32nd with 29 mins 55 secs. which placed him second in the M45 category to finish.
Completing the scorers was Seb Parris in 54th with 31mins 27 secs. The team placed third in the Division 1 match and moved up to 5th in the league.
The team had 11 runners in action with Dan Holeyman 85th with 32m 55s and Haydn Newland 101st in 35mins 11secs, Neil Crisp was one place behind him and Alan pearl 118th with 36mins 45 secs. Returning to the team after an absence of many years was Jim Tilbrook who came home 181st in 45m 5s.
Also running well on the difficult course were: Dennis Briggs (130 37.14) Andy Catton (137 37.47) Tony Young (135 40.33) Bradley Brown (164 41.35) Ernie Forsyth (170 43.31) and Trevor Robinson (176 44.48)
First for the Ilford ladies was Amy-Louise who came home 29th in 28 mins 36 secs for their 6km event. Bree Nordin was the first in the F60 class as she finished 52nd overall in 31 mins 01 secs. One place behind was Jenni Sheehan with 31 mins 12 secs and Nicola Hopkinson completed the scoring team in 75th with a time of 33 mins 34 secs. the team improved to 9th in this match but remain 11th in the league table.
Sharon Honey ran well for 76th and 2nd in the F60 category with 33 mins 46 secs, while Dianne Crisp finished 84th with 35 mins 19 secs. Julia Galea came home 93rd in 37 mins 36 secs and Doris Gaga was one spot behind. Frieda Keane completed the Ilford line-up with 39 mins 40 secs for 104th
Chasing Pumpkins 10k
Epping Forest
Sunday 27th October
Chasing Pumpkins in aid of Havens Hospice was back for a second year.
An official chip-timed trail run, where the 10K course takes you through Epping Forest and around Higham’s Park Lake is multi terrain and recent rain made the course very muddy.
Alison Sale was Ilfords sole representative and was very pleased with her time of 53 mins 21 seconds which placed her in 8th place and first female home.
Beachy head 10k
Eastbourne
Sunday 27th October
The Eastbourne Beachy Head 10k has grown from it’s introduction in 2013. It is popular for its route through the South Downs National Park countryside that offers breathtaking views, although the hills can be very challenging.
Two Ilford AC runners took part on Sunday, Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham and wife Wendy who was competing in her first ever Cross country race.
Both runners rose to the challenge and ran well on the difficult course with Sparra posting a time of 1 hr 8 mins and 38 seconds for 462nd place and wife Wendy finishing in 1 hr 24 mins and 48 secs for 742nd place